Power and Energy Minister Kanchana Wijesekera yesterday said that his ministry intends to designate 14,000 acres of land and water areas for the purpose of generating 4,000 MW of electricity through the installation of solar panels within the next six years.

Addressing the media, he said that the Ministry is hoping to allocate land areas from the government and private sector and to later engage with tender procedures.

Accordingly, the Ministry is planning to allocate 12,000 acres of land for the generation of 4,000 MW of electricity using solar power. Another 2,000 acres of land will be allocated for the generation of 1,000 MW of wind power. A total of 4,000 MWh of power will be generated, which is sufficient for the next six years.

"The ministry is hoping to generate more than 150 MW of power from rooftop solar panels by the end of this year, the Minister said.

"However, by the end of September, we had received 120 MW of electricity from the main grid, and we can reach the target by the end of this year," the minister added.

The Power and Energy Ministry is to install floating solar projects to generate 200 MW in the Samanalawewa reservoir in the next two weeks, Minister Wijesekera said.

"After the land and water area allocation project is completed, the Ministry is hoping to assign these projects to tender procedures. Based on the assurances and agreements with the IMF, financial assistance and loan facilities will be received from financial companies, creating a suitable environment to implement the projects accordingly," Minister Wijesekera said. (Chaturanga Pradeep Samarawickrama)